March 23, 2012 – Solectria Renewables, a photovoltaic (PV) inverter manufacturer, has acquired New Power Labs and its smart combiner technologies. The latter is a Massachusetts-based company which designs and develops string level monitoring products for commercial and utility-scale PV arrays.

“Acquiring New Power Labs and hiring Tom Johnson was a strategic decision for Solectria Renewables,” said Michael Zuercher-Martinson, Solectria Renewables CTO. “Smart combiners are rapidly becoming an integral part of the safety and performance of modern PV systems. We are pleased to be able to work with Tom and bring this innovative technology to our customers.”

“There are many engineering challenges associated with monitoring solar power at the string level. Joining Solectria Renewables is a pleasure and I am excited to incorporate our solution directly into the STRCOM string combiner product line. Together we will create an integrated product with the advanced features and options desired by our customers,” said Johnson.

According to Solectria, the development of a smart combiner product is just one part of a major effort by the company to improve the intelligence of the entire PV system, ranging from better utility power coordination to improved safety and performance measurement for solar arrays.